EMMITSBURG, Maryland — After returning to campus from facing three Atlantic Coast Conference teams in a row on the road — No. 15 Syracuse, Wake Forest and No. 24 Miami — the University of Maryland Eastern Shore hit the practice floor to start making adjustments for their next opponent.

Mount St. Mary's (5-4) boasts four starters averaging double digits in scoring and none are bigger than 5-foot-9.

"We go from one extreme to another," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "We go from playing the Monstars with their size at Miami to playing against four guards, which poses a problem for us because we have to guard small now. And they are playing really good basketball. They have one player leading them (Juliette Lawless) with 18 a game and the other kids are playing really well. They seem to understand their role and I think they are playing really good basketball right now."

Lawless leads the team in minutes per game (30.3), points per game (17.2), assists per game (3.7) and steals per game (1.9). Sophomore guards Daley Sullivan (11.2 ppg.) and Jatarrikah Settle (10.6 ppg.) round out the backcourt along with freshman Michaela Harrison (10.8 ppg.). Sophomore center Rebecca Lee is the final starter and leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 per contest and blocked shots averaging 1.9.

The Mountaineers — of the Northeast Conference — and the Hawks have a long history going back some 16 matchups with The Mount winning 14 of those. But the two victories for The Shore have come in the past four season. The last Hawks win came 63-52 in Emmitsburg in 2016.

"I think this game becomes more of a mental challenge for the ladies in a different way," Batchelor said. "It's more of a chess match as opposed to feeling like you have to knock out Goliath you have to really make strategic plays, continue to make plays and don't do things that cost you the basketball game."

Mount St. Mary's saw its four-game win streak snapped at Virginia Tech in an 83-51 loss Dec. 16.

"They didn't play badly there," Batchelor said. "I know it's a tough place to play especially with the size factor. I thought they played a tough game. They posed some problems for Virginia Tech."

Batchelor has seen his team mature over the last three games, but progress has come without victories. Eastern Shore (2-8) picked up its two victories against Regent and Cheyney.

"I think if they keep hearing from me that we haven't had a Division I win this year it helps keep them focused," Batchelor said. "I remind them of that every chance I get. We let games get away from us that I thought we should have won, even with the tough schedule that we have had thus far. The fact that we want to close out the semester before we take a break on a high note is important. I think we have been playing well enough to win a basketball game and that is what we are faced with now.

"We have played some really good basketball against tough opponents, but silver lining victories don't really count. Winning this game would solidify the growth that we have had."

Last year, the Mountaineers rode into Princess Anne, and escaped with a 66-63 victory. IN that game Lawless and Sullivan teamed for 37 points. Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) led the Hawks with 15 points and Bairesha Gill-Miles had 12.

"Every possession matters," Batchelor said. "In those other games we played, we were down a large margin. It's a little easier to come back being down large margins because the other team can let up a little bit because they have a lead and you take advantage of that.

"Strategically playing every possession the way we need to at both ends of the floor becomes a big challenge. We lost to Buffalo in a two-possession game, at Richmond in a one-possession game. When we have been in those situations we have come ups short and that is why this game is so big."